‘The High Road’ by Terry Fallis

True confessions of a non-re-reading book club member…this is the sequel to the hilarious Canadian classic political satire The Best Laid Plans. The best plan for me was to read the sequel (which I have been wanting to get to for awhile anyway), and hopefully use that to jog my memory of the first book which I read years ago. There were plenty of reminders in the second book about what happened in the first, so I think I’m good!

In this conclusion to the first book, Angus and Daniel are now properly elected to the federal government and have been given the task to discover why a bridge between Ottawa and Hull has collapsed. Angus McClintock, a Scottish friendly giant of an engineering professor, becomes an unlikely political candidate, not only because he only got into politics to avoid teaching English to engineering students, but because he refuses to engage in back-slapping, back-scratching, and backstabbing to meet his goals. He is a fresh and honest face in politics because he truly wants to achieve things that are going to be in the best interests of the public, not just to further his own agenda or career. And the best part about this book and its prequel is the sense of humour running throughout. These books are laugh out loud funny, making you feel somehow better about politics, even if you’re not Canadian.